casey's (not the gas station)

Two men wearing ski masks robbed BJ’s Drug last night at approximately 8:30 p.m.

The 43-year-old owner, Barney Joseph Jr., was working when the men entered, held a gun to his head, and stole $382.65 from the cash register. The men left in a car parked at the curb in front of the store with its motor still running. Joseph told police that the robbery was over in less than a minute.

While Joseph kept a pistol under the counter of the store, he told police it “felt unwise” to use it. Joseph’s father was involved in a similar incident around 25 years ago. Joseph recalled,

“Yes, Dad resisted, I guess. Anyway, they found him shot to death, his own gun in his hand, and a bullet in the store’s ceiling. I’d rather part with my money than my life.”

The first person I interviewed was a student working at the front desk at the HYPR building on Campus. Her name was Monica Olson and she seemed to be hard at work on some assignment.

I initially approached her because I saw a Post-It note on her laptop. Upon further examination, it ended up just being words and not a picture. But luckily she happily made a drawing for me once I explained my assignment to her.

When I asked her what inspired her to draw a flower, she responded with,

“I guess I’m just trying to blossom into a nice flower like that”

I also asked her if it was a creative decision to draw it upside down. To that, she said,

“Well, it must be because my life is just upside down”

In response, I asked her how long she was on her shift. She had been working for about an hour and a half, so I suppose she just seemed to be mentally done with her shift.

My next target was another student I found in the HYPR, this time in my track coach’s office. I asked Rod Smith if he had an academic success story that he could tell, and he was happy to oblige. He told me about his struggle with academic success last year, and how this year he feels like he is on top of things.

Rod explained that he had a rough patch after December because his basketball coach wasn’t on him anymore about his grades. Being a business administration major, Rod took some challenging courses like Accounting and Principles of Management. He explained,

“I had some slight depression and no motivation to go to class or really do anything at all”

Despite the struggle last semester, Rod recovered eventually and said,

“Track helped me get back on track, no pun intended”

He explained that Coach Wallace, the head track coach, helped encourage him to get his grades up and stay motivated for class. Rod also mentions that the fear of not returning next year also pushed him to work harder at academic success.

This article was written about a man named Said Ismahilov and his experience of the ongoing Ukrainian War as a frontline medic. From Kyiv to Bucha, Ismahilov has been on the run from Russians since he was practically born, in the Soviet era, that is. Being a frontline medic has forced him to witness the worst of the worst that war has to offer. The feeling of seeing neighbors he used to know dead on the street when he returned to Bucha was a key point in the story. This article was very thorough and complete, and it shed background on the necessary elements of the Ukrainian War as well as personal recounts from Ismahilov. There were many great quotes featured in this article, covering many things like grief, regret, and war.

The objectivity of this story was pretty good for an article focused on one person. The story featured him and his stories but wasn’t necessarily exclusive to him. It talked about the overall sentiment in cities nearby and events outside of Ismahilov’s perspective. The story is obviously political in nature, but this was obviously a well-written news story.

Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-muslims.html

19-year-old Coco Gauff won the 2023 U.S. Open, beating out Aryna Sabalenka, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Gauff has seen professional success in major tournaments since she was 15, but nothing like how she played this weekend.

Time Magazine highlights Coco’s initial stardom and how she first emerged onto the tennis scene:

“Ever since Gauff burst onto the sports scene at Wimbledon four years ago, she’s struggled with expectations thrust upon her. When she was just 15 that summer of 2019, Gauff defeated her idol, Venus Williams, and became the youngest woman to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.”

The Time’s article goes on to highlight the imposter syndrome that Gauff has felt since then. She talks about struggling with the pressure to win a major after her initial run at Wimbledon, especially at 15 years old. She mentions that the journey to winning a major tournament was longer than she had expected, but that the strenuous path has helped her deal with the pressure of everything.

Even in the tournament’s final round, Gauff was reading online comments that said she would never make it further than she already had. Gauff told ESPN,

“’I’ve tried my best to carry this with grace and I’ve been doing my best. So honestly, to those who thought they were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it. And now I’m really burning so bright right now.’”

The ESPN article drives home Gauff’s hard work, humbleness, and appreciation. She honors famous tennis icons like Venus and Serena Williams, who paved the way for her success as a black American tennis player. She undeniably receives many comparisons to the two, but still rejects the idea that she is the ‘next Serena’.

Similarly, Gauff acknowledged another tennis icon at the tournament.  The NY Times reported:

“After accepting her check for $3 million, Gauff casually thanked Billie Jean King, who was also on the stage, for fighting for equal pay for women, a gesture showcasing her perspective, humor, and charm, all in one.”

Billie Jean King was another famous American tennis player who is most well-known for closing the pay gap between men’s and women’s major champions. Gauff’s act of thanking her is another gesture of humbleness that she demonstrates throughout her entire run.

Deadly Plane Crash Kills 5, Two Backwater State Professors Live

Earlier this week, two professors from Backwater State University were returning Thursday night from separate conferences in New York City and boarded the same TWA jet on their returning flight.

Along with forty-three other passengers and crew members, the plane crashed on takeoff at Kennedy National Airport. Five people were killed in total, but the two professors miraculously survived.

University President Announces Upcoming Curriculum Changes

Backwater State University President, David French, decided to change the requirement for graduation to include more math and foreign language courses.

Students entering next fall (2023) must take one math, computer science, and foreign language course. French says,

“We feel that these new course requirements will allow us to turn out better–educated persons.”

This comes after a recent study that showed only 15 percent of students took a foreign language course and only 20 percent took a math course while at Backwater State University.

Daughter of Jim Wensen receives 3^rd DUI in 6 Months

Last night, 22-year-old senior Cathy Wensen was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, the third time in six months.

The teen’s father is Jim Wensen, a prominent attorney in the area. Her mother, Sharon Wensen, lives in Ontario, Canada.

Cathy was this year’s homecoming queen and was a cheerleader and straight–A Student. She was planning on going to Vanderbilt University for graduate study in biology.

On September 6th, a state-wide ban on radar guns was issued due to concerns from troopers that the devices could cause cancer from long-term exposure to the radiation waves. This ban was ordered by Adam Smith, the spokesman for Highway Patrol, and affects 70 different guns, excluding transmitters mounted on vehicles.

The ban comes three months after three officers in Central City filed workman’s compensation claims, blaming the hand-held units for cancer development. It was considered a first of its kind for the police department. Smith mentions, “The feeling here is to err on the side of caution until more is known about the issue. The whole situation is under review.”

The police department also claims that the ban is just a temporary precaution while research still takes place into the link between the devices and cancer development.

This article was written about a long stretch of yard sales, spanning 690 miles and plenty of states. It was something the author seemed to have just stumbled upon, and then embarked on a journey to reach the end. While the article talked about the variety of goods sold and about the actual cohesive project, I definitely preferred the personal accounts and observations. At one point the author explains that while religion and Mennonites were all too common the further south she went, she noticed a lot of them still talked openly. There was talk of rehabilitation, drug abuse, crises, and many more between vendors and families. She noted the common association of “holier-than-though” piety was not present along this route.

In terms of objectivity, this story wasn’t 100% objective at all. The story was pretty limited to the author’s travel through the yard sales and their personal experience of the whole event. As mentioned, I liked their observations and the way it was written, but it definitely was more of a personal recount. As for the appeal, I think it was very bizarre and out-of-the-ordinary, which is why I clicked on the article after all. Once you start reading, I think it appeals a bit more to interest and emotion, as you can’t help but feel bad for the vendors, especially in the heat and during other weather conditions.

Link:

This article focused on the city of Philadelphia commissioning a white man for a statue of Harriet Tubman for the city. Many criticized the city on this decision, however, and said that the art should be submission-based on the community, so that other artists have the opportunity to submit artwork, more specifically, giving local black artists the chance to submit designs. The white man, Wesley Wofford, claimed that his voice was not being heard and that art is meant to transcend race, gender, and class. After all, the city only commissioned this statue after Wofford had toured with the piece and received many compliments and renown. The final 5 contestants in the submission contest did end up all being black, which to many, showed that this art piece’s selection was 100% about race. Wofford offered up a larger version of his piece as a backup but did not enter the submission because he felt he may have had too much sway, considering the city commissioned him in the first place.

I really liked this article because I don’t think there’s a clear option to choose. The writer did a very good job of portraying both sides evenly and answering important questions like “Why didn’t Wofford enter the submission contest?” or “What did the Tubman family descendants say, if anything, about this?”. It made me think about what the right decision could be and what I would personally pick in this scenario. This made for a good article too because it referenced other instances of similar issues arising in the world lately.

Link:

The person I interviewed for this assignment was Elsie Dirkx. Elsie is a sophomore at Morningside, majoring in Business Administration and minoring in Spanish and Journalism. She is from Carol, Iowa, and when asked to describe where it was, she said it was, “around an hour and forty-five minutes down Highway 20”. At Morningside, Elsie lives with her roommate Lydia in Roadman South and is busy with many activities, one of which is her involvement with the Morningside Choir. She mentions that they sing various songs, some biblical and multilingual, and are often accompanied by piano or other instruments. She is planning on going on tour in Capetown, Africa with the choir this upcoming summer. Her personal music taste contrasts with what she performs in choir, with her mentioning bands like The Bee Gees and Earth, Wind, and Fire. Other activities include being a peer mentor and being involved with AmeriCorps Civil Leadership and Women’s Leadership. When asked how she heard about Women’s Leadership, Elsie recalls a tea party the group had in Yockey, in which she was reminded of her grandma, who had her very own Victorian-style tea room. Another hobby for Elsie is baking and cooking. This past summer, Elsie was in charge of taking care of 4 kids daily and lived in Spain during this period. She said she wanted the kids to ‘know and experience the value of a home-cooked meal’. This experience partly fuels her passion for cooking as well as inspired her to do her minor in Spanish.